Penske Truck Leasing is the latest major customer for Ford's E-Transit electric cargo van after Walmart.
The Reading, Pennsylvania-based company, which successfully piloted the vehicles late last year, has ordered 750 E-Transits for use as part of its rental and leasing fleet. Penske said it plans to take delivery of its first several vehicles in the next weeks.
The E-Transit vans will be made available in Southern California, with other locations around the US to follow later in the year. As previously announced, the Ford E-Transit is the first light-duty electric truck to be made available in Penske's rental and leasing fleet.
"We're excited to help bring these new vehicles to market as both a rental and full-service lease option for our customers. We continue to expand and diversify our fleet of electric vehicles and to offer new options for customers seeking more sustainable choices when it comes to transportation."
Art Vallely, president of Penske Truck Leasing
In the long term, Penske plans to add more E-Transits to its wider network of rental and leasing locations across North America.
The company chose to order the vans after it received a pre-production model and access to telematics services late last year as part of Ford's commercial business pilot program.
Penske Truck Leasing will display the Ford E-Transit and other electric vehicles within its booth at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (May 9–12) in Long Beach, California.
Ford kicked off deliveries of the 2022 E-Transit in February, when it also announced it had already received 10,000 orders from about 300 commercial customers in the US. Among the biggest clients is Walmart, which earlier this year said it would buy 1,100 vans.
Of the 10,000 orders, Ford said 44% are for the high-roof version, 32% are for the medium-roof version and 19% are for the low roof.
Priced from $44,500 including shipping, the Ford E-Transit offers an estimated range of up to 126 miles in low-roof cargo van guise. According to Ford internal research, commercial customers drive an average of 74 miles a day.
